Pet food manufacturers have a long-standing desire to provide foods which combine high nutritional value, and resistance to decomposition and bacterial contamination, with low production costs. In addition, and with particular regard to cat foods, pet food manufacturers desire a high degree of palatability which can be attained at low cost.
The three main types of pet foods embody the desired characteristics to varying degrees. Canned or high-moisture (greater than 50% moisture) foods are typically all meat and therefore generally highly palatable to animals. However, such foods are typically costly to produce and package, require the use of preservatives to inhibit decomposition and contamination, and are relatively less nutritious per unit weight than other pet food products. Dry or low-moisture content pet foods (less than 15% moisture) are generally highly nutritious, may be inexpensively packaged, and are highly convenient to store and use. However, dry or low-moisture foods are generally the least palatable of pet foods. Semi-dry or intermediate moisture content pet foods (about 15% to about 50% moisture) are generally more palatable than dry foods, have higher nutritional value, and are more inexpensively packaged and more conveniently used than high moisture foods. However, intermediate moisture content foods may be more susceptible to bacterial contamination than dry pet foods, and are generally less palatable than high moisture content foods.
Dry and semi-dry foods are generally preferred by manufacturers and pet owners alike because such foods are more convenient to store and use, and because of the higher nutritional content than high-moisture pet foods. However, many animals, and particularly cats, are picky eaters desiring a high degree of palatability. There remains a need for a low-moisture pet food with a high degree of palatability.
Known palatability enhancers for low moisture pet foods include various surface coating compositions. For example, known palatability enhancers include surface coatings of phosphoric acid; a combination of fat with hexamic, phosphoric or citric acid; and a mixture of phosphoric acid and citric acid. Palatability may also be enhanced by the application of liquid or dry flavorings as a coating. Liquid or dry animal digest coatings are widely used to enhance palatability, and animal digest is also used in a liquid combination with phosphoric acid. Dry animal digest may be used in a two step coating process with liquid phosphoric acid. Dry application of sodium acid phosphate, which may be used in combination with animal digest, is also known.
However, the known compositions and methods remain limited in the resulting degree of palatability. It would be desirable to provide a composition and method for further enhancing the palatability of dry and semi-dry pet foods. It would also be desirable to provide such a composition with a high degree of palatability for cats. It would be further desirable to provide such a composition and method which enhances dry and semi-dry pet food palatability at a relatively low production cost. It would be still further desirable to provide such a palatability enhancer which is robust among different formulations.